Judge Has Rejoinder to ‘Tart’ Quote

Recently I sentenced an admitted child molester, Robert Stanfield, to six years in the state penitentiary.

Because of my alleged comment that the victim was a tart, Times readers wrote letters to the editor chastising me for my conduct in this matter. None of these readers bothered to call me first to determine if The Times had accurately reported the case. One suspects that if a judge declared the moon to be made of cheese, these readers would accept this without further inquiry.

The true facts are:

First, in order to ascertain all the facts prior to sentencing Mr. Stanfield, I reviewed the police interviews of the victim. In those reports, the victim stated to the police that when she and Mr. Stanfield got to the motel she told the defendant that she was “horny.” Further she gave a very graphic and detailed definition of what “horny” meant to her. Because of this information, I stated during the sentencing that persons reviewing the evidence might come to the conclusion that the victim acted like a tart. I never said that I felt the victim was a tart.

Second, I very carefully explained to the reporter from The Times that the defendant had called the victim a harlot. I never referred to the victim in this way and would not do so even if I believed she was, which I certainly did not.

Third, during the sentencing I explained in detail that I rejected the comments of the defendant about the victim as being any legal excuse for his conduct. I further explained that even if the evidence pointed to some sexual maturity on her part that this also was not a mitigating factor in sentencing the defendant.

LUIS A. CARDENAS, Judge of the Superior Court, Santa Ana